


Stung

by orphan_account



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Original Characters - Freeform, Short, Short Story, Story, What am I doing, anyway I wrote this for my 10th grade lit class, honestly, idk - Freeform, oc named Abbygail, oc named Kayla, oc named Malachy, oc named Ophelia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 13:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14214204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This is about a boy. Everyone loves him and he is cared for deeply by others. This boy, Malachy, loves everyone around him. He’s a straight A student. He’s shy. Malachy is a high schooler that is on his way to get into college, but something happens along the way.Honestly, I have no idea on how to write a summary, so if someone has a better one, feel free to comment down below. I accept constructive criticism, but if you’re fucking rude, fuck off.





	Stung

**Author's Note:**

> constructive criticism is welcomed. Don’t hold back, but don’t be a dick.

It was Friday. May 18, 2018. Ophelia Santoro jumped up and down excitedly, waiting for her son to get home from school. He had texted her earlier. Something along the lines of, "Mum, I have a surprise." She always gets so excited for surprises. It was his last week of school. Who knew what he would bring home. She heard the shuffling of shoes at the front door. He burst through the door with a huge smile. She met his smile with one of her own and started to ruffle his hair. "Malachy! What surprise do you have for me, huh? Is it a good surprise? A bad one?" Malachy smiled at his mother. She continued to ruffle his hair. "Mum, can you please not? I'll tell you when I go put my stuff up from school, okay?" Malachy said, gently removing his mother's hands from his hair. Ophelia smiled, "Okay, fine. Go ahead and put your stuff up. I'll be in the kitchen." He nodded and headed to his room. Putting his book bag against the wall, he smiled briefly at the envelope held in his hands. His mother was going to be proud. So proud, in fact, that she should take herself, Kayla, and him to the new Chinese restaurant that just came to town. He ran down the stairs. "Okay, so, I'm going to read this to you and you're going to love it. Also, you're taking Kayla and I to the new Chinese restaurant. Please." He said while out of breath. Ophelia responded, "Okay, let's see what it's about then, yeah?" Malachy proceeded to open the envelope and read what was on the enclosed letter. "Dear Malachy Santoro, I am delighted to inform you of the fact that you have been accepted to Harvard University—" Malachy was interrupted by his mother. "OH, MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS? ARE YOU REALLY? OH, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YOU JUST GOT ACCEPTED INTO COLLEGE. NOT JUST ANY COLLEGE, BUT HARVARD. MY BABY BOY IS GOING TO COLLEGE! HARVARD! OH—" "Mum, chill. Please stop yelling." Malachy said, laughing lightly. Ophelia took a huge deep breath. "Okay, but I did not overreact so be quiet."

 

After all the laughing and celebrating with one another, Malachy took it upon himself to call his best friend, Kayla Oher, to tell her about the news and invite her to the Chinese restaurant tonight. "Hey, Kayla, I need you to come over. Like, quick. Quicker than the Flash." He told her quickly. After he said that, he hung up without a word. Five minutes later, the door bell rung. "Hold on!" Ophelia said, rushing to the door. Once Ophelia opened the door, Kayla looked at her worried. "Is everything okay? Malachy called me and told me to come over fast, so I got worried. Is he okay? Are you okay, Ms. Santoro? What's wrong? What happened?" "Kayla, darling, calm down. We just wanted to tell you the good news and to also invite you to go to dinner with us tonight." Ophelia said calmly. "Okay, so what's the good news?" Kayla asked impatiently. Malachy entered the room, "I was accepted into Harvard! Also, we are going to the new Chinese restaurant!" Kayla gasped, not really knowing what to say. "You were, too? I just got my acceptance letter! Oh, my God. We are going to the same school! That's amazing!" "What do you mean we are going to the same school? When did you get your acceptance letter? You applied to Harvard?" Malachy questioned, one eyebrow raised in suspicion. Kayla looked at him, "I got it today, duh." Malachy looked at her with an exasperated expression. "Okay, but you still didn't answer my question. When did you apply to Harvard? You didn't tell me." Kayla tilted her head down to the floor. "I mean, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I blurted it out before I could even surprise you." Malachy raised an eyebrow. "You made me excited, okay?" Kayla continued, lifting her head, smiling slightly. "Alright, people. Time to go. It's already 6:30. Let's get going." Ophelia said, getting her car keys. Kayla nodded. "Wait! I need to go call my mum and tell her where I will be. I'll be back in a few." Ophelia sighed, "Hurry up then, kiddo." Kayla ran out the door, trying to get to her house as fast as she could. "Let's go wait in the car." Suggested Malachy.

 

After a long twenty-minute drive, they had finally arrived. Malachy rushes into the restaurant while Ophelia and Kayla trail behind him. The waitress helps them find a seat in the back. Once she has taken them there, she asks for the kind of drinks they would like. Malachy orders water while Ophelia and Kayla both order a sweet iced tea. As soon as she leaves to go get their drinks, Malachy gets up and immediately heads to the plates. He picks up a plate and gets all his favorite Chinese food. Shrimp, fried rice, crab salad, broccoli, and a chicken kabob. He sits back down and waits for Ophelia and Kayla. It's not even five minutes before they head back to the table with a plate full of Chinese food. They sit for a while in comfortable silence. Then, "Hey, when are you two supposed to be leaving?" Malachy and Kayla looked at each other. "I have no idea. I did not get to read the whole letter because you kept screaming like a five-year-old. I guess I'll have to check when we get home. Kayla, did you read yours?" Malachy questioned. Kayla nodded her head. "Yeah, I read it all. I'm headed to Harvard on the 23rd. Maybe if you have a date close to mine, you can ride with me." Ophelia smiled, "You can go with Kayla if you have a date close to hers." "Alright. Well, at least we got that settled." Malachy said, grinning.

 

By the time they were finished eating and talking, it was closing time. "Today was good, guys. I really liked spending time with you both." Kayla said, smiling. "Yeah, it was really cool." Malachy said, smiling at the two of them. Ophelia smiled brightly, "Alright, time to head home, children. Kayla, we enjoyed bringing you out. We will see you later. Have a good night. Love you." Malachy laughed, "Yeah, we will see you tomorrow. Love ya, have a good night." Kayla giggled. "Okay, love y'all, too. Goodnight!" Kayla opened the door. Turning around one last time, she smiled at the two of them and waved. With that, she closed the door and started to walk home. Malachy looked for the acceptance letter. "Okey-doke, I have the letter right here. Let's see when I must leave." Ophelia sighed, "I don't want you to leave, but you have to go get a good education. I'm so proud of you, baby. I love you so much." Malachy teared up a bit, "Mum, can you not? You trying to make me cry?" "No," Ophelia laughed. "I just want you to know that. Don't you ever forget it either!" "I won't ever forget it. I love you, too, Mum." Malachy said, tearing up. "Okay, okay. No more crying. Let's see when you leave me." Ophelia told him. Malachy picked up the letter off the table. "It says I have to be there by the 25th, so yeah, I'll be able to ride with Kayla." Ophelia nodded. "Alright, let's go to bed, Malachy." They headed to their rooms. Malachy whispered, "Good night." "Good night, son. Love you." Malachy slipped into his room. "Love you, too."  
The time has passed. It was time for Malachy to leave. Kayla, too. Ophelia had dropped to the floor bawling. "Oh, God! Why do you have to leave me all alone, Malachy? I'm going to miss you so much! You jerk!" "Mum, I love you, too! Don't hate me for leaving, please!" Malachy cried out, tears falling down his face. Kayla shook her head. These two were the most dramatic people she has ever met. "Okay, you two need to take a chill pill. You do too much. Jesus." Kayla was exasperated. They have been crying for an hour straight. She wasn't sure if she could take riding with Malachy the cry baby. Kayla walked up to Malachy and gently started pulling him towards her truck. "Alright, time to say good bye." Kayla said. "No! Just a few more minutes with my mum! Kayla, please! I can't leave her by herself!" Malachy exclaimed, making grabbing motions towards his mother. Ophelia stood up. She wipes her tears and looks towards her son. "Ah, I guess it's time to let you go, baby boy. I love you so much. Stay away from things you don't need to be around." Malachy whimpered, "Okay, mum. I love you, too. I promise I'll stay away from bad things. Goodbye." Kayla got him in the truck, successfully strapping him down in his seat belt. Malachy laid his head back. 

 

Almost thirty-minutes into the drive, Malachy was asleep. Kayla looked at Malachy, sighing. "Guess I'll have to be awake by myself then." Kayla muttered to herself. She turned on the radio, so she wouldn't have to sit in silence. She sang softly to the music, keeping herself awake with the noise. She looked at the gas tank. "Crap," she said aloud. "I need to get some gas!" She looked over at Malachy. "Malachy. Wake up." Malachy slowly opened his eyes. He looked to check his surroundings. The car wasn't moving anymore. He slowly turned his head to face Kayla. "Yeah?" Malachy whispered, his voice hoarse with tiredness. "I'm almost out of gas. Think you can Google where the nearest gas station is? My phone is dead." Kayla said, looking at the cars passing by. Malachy pulled out his phone. "Uh, yeah," Malachy said. "Okay, so the nearest gas station is a mile down the road." Kayla nodded. She turned the keys to the truck and pulled back onto the lane. About 15 minutes down the road, they finally saw the gas station. It was surrounded by woods. She pulled into the driveway. She drove up beside the gas pump. Kayla got out of the truck to pump the gas. Malachy's stomach rumbled. "Alright, I'm going inside to get food. Want anything?" Kayla looked at Malachy. "Um, get me some Doritos, please. Thank you." Malachy got out the truck, carefully stepping out. Once Malachy reached the door, he could already see the delicious snacks lined up in the aisles of the store. He pulled the door, making the bell chime loudly throughout the convenience store. The clerk looked him up and down before deciding he was just a customer and not an intruder. Malachy looked through the aisles before getting five packs of Doritos, six bottles of water, four turkey sandwiches, and a couple of energy drinks. He put his items on the counter. The clerk rings it all up. The total amount was $4o. Once the clerk is done, he says, "Thank you for shopping. Have a good day!" Malachy smiled, "You have a good day, too, sir." Malachy walks out of the store. As soon as he walks out, he is hit by strong pheromones. The smell was intoxicating. It made Malachy's head fog up. He couldn't think. He only knew to follow where the scent was coming from. Malachy dropped the bags he was holding. Kayla was sitting in the car. The clerk had not moved from his position. Nobody was moving except for Malachy. It felt as though the whole world had stopped. Time was no longer existent.  
The bag Malachy dropped, Kayla, the store clerk, even the wind, had stilled. Malachy was the only one moving. It appears the trees were calling out to Malachy. Malachy took small steps that turned into larger ones the closer he got to the woods. The smell was luring him to go into the woods. It was pulling him. He couldn't stop it. It was too powerful for him to control. Malachy felt as though it took hours to make it to the source of the pheromones. He suddenly felt the pull disappear. He finally regained back his ability to think. "What...?" Malachy muttered to himself. He looked around the scenery. The trees leaned into each other, creating a dome like structure made of trees, branches, leaves, vines, and weeds. The weeds came out of the ground, pointed into a spear shape. Looking as though it was guarding the dome. There was a door. Not a normal one. One made up of branches and vines. The vines wrapped themselves around the dome, almost like it was keeping the dome up. Once Malachy got close to the door, the weeds split, making a path for Malachy to walk. Standing in front of the door, the vines split, like something cut them in half. The door was opening for him. 'But why?' Malachy thought to himself. He entered the dome. It was bigger on the inside. He looked around. People were everywhere, dressed in ragged clothes. He looked up. There was a stair case leading to a second floor that could be seen from where he was. There were thrones. Three, to be exact. Each sat a human looking figure. They were huge. Malachy felt the pull again when he made eye contact with the human looking creature in the middle. His thoughts were lost. He felt the pull of people grabbing onto his shirt. There were four people behind him. They held a chair. They pushed Malachy onto the chair. Hard. Malachy gasped aloud. He could feel the bruise forming along the spine of his back. It hurt. He felt compelled to look back at the creature in the middle. Yet again, his thoughts disappeared. Before Malachy knew it, he was already in front of the three creatures. He couldn't speak. Both the fear of these creatures and the pull made him unable to. The creatures looked at him through furrowed brows and black eyeballs. "Human." The creature had called him. The word echoed throughout the entire dome. This was the last thing he heard before everything went black.

 

Malachy is awake. He is back at the store. The bags are still in his hands. Customers go in and out of the convenience store. Malachy rushes over to the truck, thinking Kayla might know what had happened. Climbing in the truck, he looked at Kayla. 'Nothing seemed to have startled her or anything, so she must not know, right?' Malachy thought. He decided not to question her. He gave Kayla the bags then laid his head back. He thought about what had happened. 'It must have been a dream, right? There is no way that that actually happened.' Malachy thought to himself, slowly drifting off into sleep. Kayla glanced at Malachy. "Guess I'll be alone again." She sighed to herself. Malachy was dreaming to himself. He moved around in his seat. He was in the forest again. The creatures were here. He is lying down on a table. They were putting things on his body. He looked down and saw they had put intricate designs that almost looked like tribal tattoos. He tried to scream. He wanted them to stop. It hurt too much. It felt like the designs were being embedded into his bones. His ribs, to be more specific. Each time they touched him, he felt the designs going deeper in his bones. The pain was too much. He screamed to the top of his longs, but no sound could come out. 'Oh, God. I'm going to die.' The creatures knew he was going to pass out soon. Malachy felt the pull come again. He stopped moving. He was deathly quiet. No sounds were heard throughout wherever he was. "Human." There it was. That word echoed throughout Malachy's brain. Malachy was gone now.  
Harvard. Harvard University. They were finally at Harvard. Malachy and Kayla both got out of the truck to stretch. After a few minutes, they were shown their different dorms. Malachy left Kayla as soon as he got introduced to his new dorm room. She tried to come in, but he just told her, "No.", in a stern voice. "But—!" Kayla tried to say. "No. Bye." Malachy told her. He then shut the door. 'What the—? Why would I do that?' Malachy questioned himself. 'I guess it's because I just woke up. I'll just apologize to her later after a nap.' Malachy laid down on his new bed. He slowly drifted off into sleep.

 

Not even two months have passed when the Dean wanted to talk to Malachy. "Mr. Santoro, the Dean has just told me he wants you to go to his office." Malachy's teacher, Mr. Hamilton, told Malachy. "Okay." Malachy said, sneering. Malachy got up out of his feet and spent the last ten minutes getting to the Dean's office thinking about how he might get kicked out of school. Who knew what would happened? 'Oh, God. What if I do get kicked out? What will Mum think?' For the almost two months Malachy has been here, he has gotten into more trouble than he ever has in his life. He was rude and disrespectful to teachers. Picked on students. Made it seem as though he was on top of the world. Malachy knew in his mind that is wasn't right, but he couldn't help it. When he first got to Harvard, he woke up from his nap and started to walk into the bathroom to take a shower. When he slipped off his shirt, he barely noticed the incantations along his ribs. They were white letters, made into a different language. Looked to be a Latin script. Non potest salvum facere tibi. This is what the white font had read on his ribs. He knew not of what it meant. He had no urge to look up a translation either. Now, he was at the Dean's door. He knocked. "Come in." A voice said. He hesitantly opened the door. He walked in and stood beside the arm chair in the room. "I'm sure you know why I've called you here today, Mr. Santoro." The Dean looked at him with a stern face. "Have a seat, Malachy," The Dean told Malachy. You've been getting into trouble lately. I'm getting complaints from your teachers. I've looked on your records. You have shown no bad behavior until you got here. Has something happened? Are you being bullied?" The Dean questioned him. Malachy looked at him annoyed. "No, old dude," Malachy said. "Nothing's wrong. So, mind your own business. Is that all? I need to get back to class." The Dean looked at Malachy. He was flabbergasted. The Dean felt his face growing hotter and hotter. 'How dare this child talk to me like that? I'm just trying to help him!' The Dean tried to calm himself. "Okay, there is no need for you to talk to me like that. I'm just looking for ways to help you—!" Malachy stood up, "No! You know what? I don't need your help, okay?! I'm fine on my own! Leave me alone!" The room seemed to suddenly have wind. Papers flew from the desk onto the ground. The Dean gulped, "Uh, why don't you just calm down there, son?" "Don't call me son! I'm so tired of all you teachers and people qith authority! You act like you know everything when you know nothing!" Malachy threw the chair to the ground. He stormed out of the room.

 

Not even two hours later and Malachy was being escorted off school property. He received a call from his mum. She wanted to know what was wrong, but he snapped at her and hung up. Two days later, he was on her doorstep. Kayla and he were no longer friends. He threw away their friendship. Nobody liked Malachy anymore. He wasn't like he used to be. Not the soft-spoken person he was. He is heartless and cold. The creatures had sent a girl to his door step when he got back home. He felt that he had to become friends with her. She introduced herself as Abbygail. They were alike. Incantations along Malachy's ribs and incantations along her spine. His mum knew what was wrong. She knew that this would happen someday. Now, she just had to save him.


End file.
